On Tuesday, October 16th, the cities of Reno and Sparks in Nevada became “Cities of ONE.” Mayor Bob Cashell of Nevada and Mayor Geno Martini of Sparks met at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) to read their cities’ proclamations in front of about 50 people. I was honored to represent the ONE Campaign for the event.

Robin Mercer, ONE staff in Reno did a great job with the invitees.
Among the attendees were:
- Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert (ambassador and chair of Mothers of ONE),
- Lesley Miller, wife of NV Secretary of State
- Katherine Wellsey, Jr. League President
- Susan Hauser, Jr. League President Elect,
- Adam Allen, President of the UNR ONE club
- Jojo Armijo, Governor Gibbons office,
- ONE volunteers Molly Conklin from The Ferraro Group, Mary Leonard Conklin, Gideon Mukwai, Jill Stockton and many others.

At the press conference, Miss Gansert announced a ONE shoe drive to send needed footwear to Sub-Sahara Africa. The Junior League office is one of the drops off locations for shoe drive. After the event, I visited Rainshadow Charter High School, where teacher Joe Ferguson, who has traveled to Africa in the past allowed me to talk to his student about ONE. The students signed up to join ONE and vowed to volunteer. Among other things, there were interested in asking about my experience growing up in Rwanda.

Go Reno and Sparks!

-Natalie Sugira, ONE Outreach Coordinator